Possible new party, Charest’s future to command attention in Quebec in 2011

Joanne Marcotte, left, and Éric Duhaime, the co-founders of Réseau Liberté-Québec, smile at the group's October 23 meeting in Quebec City.

MONTREAL – A movement is afoot in Quebec to nudge provincial politics to the right, a push that’s gaining grassroots traction in a province known for high taxes, expensive social programs and a hefty debt.

And its influence could have implications for the rest of Canada in 2011.

The campaign aims to move Quebec politics away from the perpetual independence debate and focus instead on the pressing economic concerns pummelling the province.

The right-of-centre groundswell has been likened to the U.S. Tea Party, albeit on a smaller scale.

At least for now.

“We’re discussing things today that we weren’t discussing five years ago,” said Joanne Marcotte, co-founder of a network that describes itself as a forum for conservative-minded people in the province.

“If Quebec wants to keep paying for its social programs, even with equalization (payments), there are limits.”

More than 400 people attended the network’s first major event in October, and many more were turned away at the door, she said.

At the time, Tory MP Maxime Bernier addressed the crowd, proclaiming the gathering as a new chapter in the province’s history.

The former cabinet minister said Quebecers “think we have too much government on our back and too much government in our pocket.”

While the province is not expected to go to the polls in 2011 — the last election was held in December 2008 — that could change if Charest’s government continues to lose public support and the premier realizes he has no choice but to step down.

The Liberals, who have been in power since 2003, are facing rock-bottom numbers in the polls.

But Marcotte doesn’t believe the province would fare any better under a government led by the Opposition Parti Quebecois.

“The Liberal Party and Parti Quebecois are two political parties that are . . . at the centre-left,” she said.

“Now, the question is: ‘Do you think these two political parties can bring change?’ I would say no. But if the change arrives, it won’t necessarily be because there will be a political party that will propose it. It might be because we have truly reached the limit of our indebtedness.”

Marcotte says her network, which is planning to hold another major event this spring, has a few things in common with the U.S. Tea Party.

“Each one his its distinguishing features,” she said of the Réseau Liberté-Québec and the Tea Party.

“So, I can’t really compare them in terms of what they contain or (their) philosophy — other than to say that at its base we defend liberty and individual rights, less state, more competition in the production of services.”

Public discontent with the Liberal government also spawned a project by former PQ cabinet minister Francois Legault to form a right-of-centre political party that is detached from the independence debate.

To date, Legault’s plan has struggled to get off the ground, even though polls have suggested the hypothetical new party would beat both the Liberals and PQ.

That raises the question: would federalist voters fed up with the Liberals have another viable ballot-box option?

One political expert says except for the Action democratique du Quebec, which has failed to earn much support outside of the capital region, no obvious federalist alternative has begun to emerge.

But the Université de Sherbrooke’s Catherine Côté does believe Quebec’s political climate is changing.

Cote says the right is finally speaking out in a province where it hasn’t always been viewed as acceptable to do so.

“Because we’re talking more about it more, people are not as shy to identify with the right,” Côté said.

Côté argues the similarities between the Réseau Liberté-Québec and the Tea Party are limited.

The network, she says, focuses on pushing for libertarian values, like smaller government, while the Tea Party’s concerns also encompass religious and moral issues such as abortion and gay rights.

Côté says Quebec’s movement doesn’t have any formal links to the major political parties — including those at the federal level.

But she says it will be interesting to see if any of them decides to latch on to it in the coming year, particularly the Tories.

Marcotte pointed to a recent report that warns Canada is facing a fiscal crisis and predicts Quebec to be the first province to hit the wall.

The province’s heavy debt burden, weak demographic growth and high health-care spending put pressure on it to be the first to make difficult decisions, the Conference Board of Canada said in a report released last month.

Marcotte argues that it’s clear Quebec’s social programs are too costly, even with the $8.5 billion in equalization money the province will receive for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

She hopes the rest of the country will help Quebec shake its dependence on the other provinces.

“I hope that (the rest of) Canada will get fed up,” Marcotte said.

“I hope that English Canada, and the federal government, revise the equalization program. It doesn’t make any sense to maintain a dependence like this.

“The impacts, if Quebec becomes financially autonomous, will be a lot better for the rest of Canada.”